Dear FOX: Not everyone has a flat-screen TV

[WolvEagle]

Call me old school (or old fart), but I don't have a flat-screen TV. The last time I bought a TV a few years back, I got a traditional model that doesn't need a converter box (yeah, that was a big deal at the time). I have neither the money nor the space to get one, either. My son and I are not hauling the entertainment center out of the living room, thank you very much.

Well, FOX has decided that everyone has a flat-screen and has adjusted its graphics accordingly for sporting events. In other words, I have no f-ing clue was the score is unless Joe Buck tells me. If I step out of the room for a moment, tough crap.

The score graphic is pushed off the screen to the left. It doesn't exist in my world.

Considering that I live in the Detroit area and A. Fox is carrying the World Series and B. Fox carries the NFC, I'm more than a bit annoyed.

Is this a problem for any other folks in SportsJournalists.com nation?

 

[Boom_70]

If it makes you feel better Fox score placement is no better on flat screen. To see it you have to adjust screen. It's been a while but I believe you can adjust on old school tv also.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Dear Bank: How can I check my account balance on my rotary phone?

 

[TigerVols]

Wait, they show the score on the screen at all times during the football games? Not just when they go to commercial break between quarters? When did this start?

 

[poindexter]

Walking into my parent's home is like walking into 1979.

No computers. No cell phones. No DVR.

But before my dad died 2 years ago, even *HE* got a flat screen TV - its either low def, or they don't pay for high def.


Fox shouldn't have to cater to the lowest common denominator, and the last guy. If you refuse to leave 1993, it isn't their fault.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Even FOX News is widescreen, so they're not waiting for all senior citizens to die off before upgrading techoology.

 

[imjustagirl]

I had a flatscreen, 19 inches, in my bedroom for 7 months until my house got broken into. They oddly didn't take my 27-inch box tv I've had since college.

Needless to say, I'm not buying a new flatscreen.

 

[Boom_70]

Even FOX News is widescreen, so they're not waiting for all senior citizens to die off before upgrading techoology.

They figure it's mostly liberals who still own box tv's . Not their market.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Even FOX News is widescreen, so they're not waiting for all senior citizens to die off before upgrading techoology.

They figure it's mostly liberals who still own box tv's . Not their market.

If the OP is using cable, then the cable company is messing things up. Usually, the cable company will letterbox something shot in widescreen.

 

[Azrael]

On our system, the HD feeds and the 'normal' feeds are on separate channels. So Fox, for example, is on Channel 5. The Fox HD transmission of the same program is on Channel 505.

OP may be clicking to the wrong feed?

 

[JC]

Send hem a telegram to complain.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Send hem a telegram to complain.

See if the Pony Express will deliver it.

 

[shockey]

If it makes you feel better Fox score placement is no better on flat screen. To see it you have to adjust screen. It's been a while but I believe you can adjust on old school tv also.

boom, i had this problem, too, until i went over the instructions manual and saw my 'settings' were wrong. check on the tv's 'menu. look for 'screen size,' of something like that. my tv has 'normal,' 'stretch.' and 'zoom.' your tv might be set on 'stretch' or 'zoo,' in which case some graphics might not appear at all or are cut off. even epn/espn2 in is ct off on the scroll at thr bottom of the screen.

or maybe this is unique to my brand, but i doubt it. let me know if this helps at all.

 

[Batman]

I've had the same problem with the graphics for some games -- not all -- and adjusting the screen sizes on two different flat screen TVs did nothing to fix it.
The weird part is, this doesn't happen on every game. It seems totally random.

 

[Riptide]

We had the same problem on the copy desk in the sports department. Of course, being copy editors, nobody knew how to fix something mechanical or electronic.

 

[Versatile]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the flatness of your TV matters in this case. The issue is widescreen vs. normal, square screen.

 

[Beef03]

Count me in the camp that still has an old school tube TV. Better things in this world to spend my money on. Got a 32" tube TV that I traded a point and shoot digital camera to my parents for when they got a flat screen. Works fine. But it can also be adjust to better accept the wide screen formats.

 

[wicked]

If the OP is using cable, then the cable company is messing things up. Usually, the cable company will letterbox something shot in widescreen.

Yep. Comcast figures everyone has 16:9 ratio screens, so they cater to that crowd.

 

[HanSenSE]

Bought a 27-inch flatscreen tube model about six years ago, just before big flatscreens became common. In high-def letterbox format, though, the upper two and lower two inches are worthless. And on some commercials where they crash in from the sides, it's like the 12-inch set I had in my dorm in college. Yes, Comcrap still shows some channels in standard def, but why watch standard def?

 

[WolvEagle]

My tube TV's also 27 inches - an RCA "TruFlat."